Prominent Western Victorian dairyfarmer Shirley Harlock was awarded the Australian Dairy Industry Council’s Outstanding Service Award at the annual dairy industry breakfast on Friday.
“It really is a true honour to receive this prestigious award,” she said.
“This really is the Brownlow to me.”
Mrs Harlock said she was extremely proud to be a dairyfarmer.
“I get very irate when people turn their noses up,” she said.
“And even though I’ve gone into other commodities – we are also in South Australia with beef and sheep – I have never, ever seen an industry like dairy that’s out there to support and help everyone.”
Mrs Harlock said 2015 appeared to be the “year of the skirt” in the industry with Wagga Wagga, NSW, dairyfarmer Simone Jolliffe being elected president of Australian Dairy Farmers on Thursday.
Outgoing ADIC chairman Noel Campbell said Mrs Harlock had been a key player in shaping the policy landscape for Australian dairy since joining the industry more than 40 years ago.
“Shirley has a strong belief in advancing industry change through science and innovation,” Mr Campbell said.
Mrs Harlock held local and executive positions with United Dairyfarmers of Victoria and was a director of Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF).
She also served as chair of Dairy Food Safety Victoria for 10 years.
In 2005, Mrs Harlock was appointed chair of the Dairy Australia Future Dairy project, charged with research, development and adoption of robotic technology for Australian dairy farms.
In partnership with her husband, John, Mrs Harlock continues to actively operate dairy farms in Warrnambool and support farms in South Australia.
She is also chairwoman of the Sustainable Agricultural Fund that owns farms throughout Australia.
Mrs Harlock paid tribute to her husband of 46 years, John, whose encouragement and support and love and passion for agriculture, particularly dairy, had been critical to her achievements.
She spoke of some of the key lessons she’d learned in her time in the industry.
“The first lesson is that all that glitters is not gold and you need to look at both sides of the ledger,” she said.
The second lesson was explained by way of an anecdote about an incident in the dairy one evening when her husband sprayed her with a hose after a disagreement and she eked revenge by turning off the power as she left the shed.
“The lesson is always work as a team, solo is not much fun,” Mrs Harlock said.
The third lesson was to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.
“I always wanted to see if there was something I could do rather than stand by and criticise,” she said.
Source: Australian Dairyfarmer Magazine
